Kazimierz Władysław Bartel (; ; 3 March 1882 – 26 July 1941) was a Polish mathematician, freemason, scholar, diplomat and politician who served as 15th, 17th and 19th Prime Minister of Poland three times between 1926 and 1930 and a Senator of Poland from 1937 until the outbreak of World War II.
Bartel was appointed Minister of Railways between 1919 and 1920, in 1922–1930 he was a member of Poland's Sejm. After Józef Piłsudski's May Coup d'état in 1926, he became prime minister and held this post during three broken tenures: 1926, 1928–29, 1929–1930. Bartel was the Deputy Prime Minister between 1926–1928 and Minister of Religious Beliefs and Public Enlightenment, when Piłsudski himself assumed the premiership, however, Bartel was in fact "de facto" prime minister during this period as Piłsudski did not concern himself with the day-to-day functions of the cabinet and the government.
In 1930 upon giving up politics, Bartel returned to the university as professor of mathematics. In 1930 he became rector of the Lwów Polytechnic and was soon awarded an honorary doctorate and membership in the Polish Mathematical Association. In 1937 he was appointed a Senator of Poland and held this post until World War II.
After the Soviet invasion and occupation of eastern Poland, Bartel was allowed to continue lecturing at the Technical Institute. In 1940 he was summoned to Moscow and offered a seat in the Soviet parliament.
On 30 June 1941, in the course of Operation Barbarossa, the German Wehrmacht entered Lwów and began persecuting the local intelligentsia. Bartel was imprisoned two days later by the Gestapo and offered the top post in a Polish puppet government. His ultimate refusal of the German terms was taken as an act of treason by the Germans. By order of Heinrich Himmler, Bartel was murdered on 26 July 1941, shortly after the Massacre of Lwów professors had ended.
Early life and studies Kazimierz Władysław Bartel was born on 3 March 1882 in Lemberg, Austria-Hungary (later Lwów, Poland, now Lviv in Ukraine) as the son of Michał Bartel and Amalia Chadaczek. Growing up in a working-class family, he graduated from elementary school in Stryj. His railwayman father arranged Bartel to be an apprentice to fitter who taught in craft school. This allowed Bartel to continue his formal education while working as an apprentice.Kazimierz Bartel (1882–1941) by J. B. Deregowski
After completing secondary school in 1901, Bartel studied mechanics at the Lwów Polytechnic in the Mechanical Engineering Department. He graduated summa cum laude in 1907 and soon started working for his alma mater as an assistant in descriptive geometry to Placyd Zdzisław Dziwinski.MacTutor biography From 1908 to 1909, he also studied mathematics and philosophy at the Franciscan University in Lviv and at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. The travel grant to Munich allowed him to attend the lectures on art history by Karl Dochlemann and mathematics by Aurel Voss and Alfred Pringsheim.
Bartel returned to the Polytechnic and earned his doctor of technical sciences in 1909. His dissertation "O utworach szeregów i pęków inwolucyjnych" (Compositions series and involution pencils) allowed him to become one of the first title holders of such doctoral within Austria-Hungary. Bartel gave his habilitation thesis "O płaskich utworach inwolucji stopnia czwartego szeregu zerowego" (On planar products of involution of the fourth series of the zero degree) in 1912,The growth of mathematical culture in the Lvov area in the autonomy period (1870–1920) then received the title of associate professor. Bartel became the chair of descriptive geometry after the retirement of Mieczysław Łazarski in 1911 due to blindness. Bartel attained the title of professor of mathematics at the Lwów Polytechnic in 1917.
Conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I, after the collapse of Austria-Hungary in 1918 Bartel returned to Lwów, which became part of the newly established Second Polish Republic. In 1919, as commander of railway troops, he fought in the defence of the city against the Ukrainian siege. Meanwhile, Bartel wrote his first textbook on descriptive geometry and befriended and later supported Poland's future leader, marshal and commander-in-chief, Józef Piłsudski. Since May 1919 he served as the manager of the Armoured Trains Construction Management and Association. His numerous successes in this field led to Prime Minister Leopold Skulski appointing him the Minister of the Railway system of the Republic of Poland. Bartel met other significant and influential politicians and diplomats, most notably Prime Minister Wincenty Witos and Prime Minister Władysław Grabski. After the Polish–Soviet War of 1920, Bartel was nominated as a lieutenant colonel and was left in charge of the railway reserve officers and the Lwów militia. He was awarded a Virtuti Militari cross, a Polish distinction for valor, after the armed conflict.
In 1921, Bartel spent six months traveling to museums and galleries in France, Italy, Switzerland and Austria to research on art. Most of his holidays were spent likewise because of his interest stemming from Dochlemann's lectures. He accumulated a good personal archive of notes and photographs for this interest of his.
Political and diplomatic career In 1922, Bartel was elected a member of Poland's Sejm (parliament) and held that position until 1929. Initially, he was a member of the party PSL "Liberation", but he was not satisfied with the radicalization of the group. In March 1925 at the Congress of the Polish People's Party, he decided to adopt, among others, a reform without compensation. Bartel eventually left the party and the organisation in April 1925, along with Marian Zyndram-Kościałkowski and Bolesław Wysłouch and later founded the parliamentary "Labour Club". This organization quickly came under the direct influence of commander-in-chief Józef Piłsudski. Just before the May Coup of 1926, Bartel received an order from Marshal Piłsudski to prepare for a takeover as prime minister after the expected collapse of President Stanisław Wojciechowski and his government.
First term in office, first government (1926) On 15 May 1926, after the resignation of the government led by Wincenty Witos and President Wojciechowski after the May Coup, Bartel was appointed by Marshal of the Sejm and the acting head of state Maciej Rataj as the prime minister of the Second Polish Republic, but Bartel later stated in his inauguration speech that he would be the head of government only until the election of a new president. His decision was possibly influenced by the fact that he suffered from kidney and stomach problems and was constantly in pain. One member of the parliament stated, "He was a cheerful and ambitious man, but always in pain. Even his opponents in the Sejm admitted that in personal relationships, it is extremely hard not to be in favour of a man like Bartel. As prime minister, he tried to aid every man possible, even the men and women that opposed his policies and the government, but he was not able to help himself, which led to his early decline in politics and diplomacy of the Polish Republic. He was of weak stature and of weak health and would hardly make a good impression on the public, especially the socialists or communists in the east and therefore, this would not make him an influential Prime Minister nor a diplomat supporting democracy."
Bartel's new government consisted mostly of people not connected with any political parties (four of those politicians already were occupied ministerial positions). Bartel was described as ideologically centrist: Prime Minister's newly established office was occupied by both the right-wing and left-wing leaders. Bartel himself took over the Ministry in turn and Piłsudski the Minister of War. Such a system churned mainly the Polish Socialist Party, which supported the May Coup. On 16 May 1926, Prime Minister Bartel made a statement in which he highlighted the principles of his policies. Bartel stated that the cabinet took power in accordance with the law, without any prejudice to the constitutional order. He also called for peace, hard work and dedication to the Polish nation. At the same time, he promised the immediate removal of incompetent and corrupt politicians from any high posts that could negatively influence the future economic growth of the Second Polish Republic. Bartel's closest personal advisor in politics and diplomacy was Marshal Józef Piłsudski, who was in favour of the new minister.
Bartel suggested that Ignacy Mościcki should become a candidate for the post of head of state (president), who was also a professor at the Lwów Polytechnic. Bartel's first government was one of the most active in the history of Poland; the politicians and members of parliament gathered every second day and on occasions everyday to discuss political matters. On 4 June 1926, Ignacy Mościcki was elected the president of the Second Polish Republic, and Bartel resigned along with the entire cabinet, but soon after being appointed, President Mościcki designated him again to become prime minister.
Second and third government (1926) On 8 June 1926, three days after the Mościcki's designation, Bartel formed his second cabinet. On the same day, Józef Piłsudski sent a letter to the head office in which he outlined the conditions of re-entry to the parliament. After his second election, Bartel primarily focused on the restoration of the decree based on the organization of the highest military authorities from 7 January 1921, which enables the free management of the Ministry of War without the vote of the government and the parliament. On 9 June 1926, the decree was officially restored, however, another decree was adopted, which increased the power of the president or head of state over the ministry. Bartel met with representatives of the parliamentary clubs and highlighted in a conversation with them his commitment towards the parliamentary system but also pointed out a more concerning issue:the economic development of the country. At a private meeting with senators, he highlighted his determination and involvement in fighting against bureaucracy, the introduction of an apolitical army and the elimination of the Ministry of Public Works. He vividly stated that before the May Coupn there was no democracy and that Poland was ruled by an oligarchy, nobles and influential leaders of wealthy privately owned clubs and parties.
The supporters of Bartel and his government emphasized his efficiency when they managed the state. His opponents, however, saw it as a tool to limit the role of the Polish Parliament and accused him of deliberate dictatorship and control over the ministers in his "private parliament sittings" - the so-called Sejm Bartlowy (Bartel's Parliament). Bartel was appointed prime minister when Marshal Piłsudski undertook an attempt to communicate with the rebellious senators and members of the Sejm. Bartel himself was considered to be representative of the liberal tendencies in the party and a spokesman of the Sanacja movement. Otherwise the post of the head of government (Prime Minister) was taken by Kazimierz Świtalski or Walery Sławek, both of whom were considered to be uncompromising supporters of the conflict with the parliament.